"Zombie" by The Cranberries is about an IRA bombing in England that killed two children.
"If It Makes You Happy" by Sheryl Crow is about the sour grapes some of her collaborators from her first album expressed to the media when they felt slighted.
It was never a big hit, but the uplifting "Mr. Blue Sky" has endured as Electric Light Orchestra's most popular song. Group leader Jeff Lynne wrote it when after two weeks of gloomy weather, the clouds parted to reveal a beautiful day.
Before launching his career as a singer, Bruno Mars was a writer/producer. He and his co-writers pitched "Just The Way You Are" to Cee-Lo Green; when he turned it down, Bruno recorded it himself and released it in 2010 as his first single as a lead artist.
There aren't many songs with a scientist as the main character, but Coldplay's "The Scientist" is one of their biggest hits. The guy in the song is brilliant, but despondent because he's lost his girl after neglecting her for his work.
"Paranoid" reflects a feeling Black Sabbath bass player Geezer Butler often felt after using drugs.
The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."
In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.
"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.
The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."